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Old Montreal day or night is just full of photo possibilities. Sure it's touristy, but the cobble stone streets and architecture make you forget that. Sheida was awesome to work with as we wandered the streets after sunset when Old Montreal began to glow. I can't wait to do some more evening shoots across Montreal.
Saint Laurent Boulevard was the perfect backdrop for urban dancer Gaby. We started by wandering through the surrounding neighborhoods and then made our way down Saint Laurent Boulevard from one colorful mural to the next. Gaby had some amazing moves and even though the temperature started dropping by the end of our shoot she kept dancing strong all the way to the end. It was a pleasure working with her.
It was a cool autumn day, one of the last before the winter weather rolled in. Raphaelle and I wandered around Le Plateau area looking for cool alleys but the fall leaves seemed to draw all our attention. We made our way over to La Fontaine Park where the yellow leaves lay like a blanket across the park. Raphaelle was amazing to work with, despite the cool weather she had endless energy and was game for anything.
Dancer: Raphaelle
Location: Le Plateau and Parc La Fontaine
Want to schedule a shoot? Contact me here.
So this is the first of (hopefully) many posts that might look a little similar. But first I have to set the scene, bear with me for a little flashback story.
I began my photography journey in high school. At the time I had to work toward preparing for a final show upon graduation. Being a 5-day-a-week dancer at the time, I was naturally drawn to dance photography for my focus. I completed a body of work of dancers and non-dancers all dancing in the photo studio; the theme was, Anyone Can Dance. But at the same time I was jotting down ideas in my journal for future photoshoots. I wanted to shoot dancers in urban environments. I won't bore you with my teenage doodles. I brainstormed this series over multiple pages and it stuck with me for years.
Flash forward to 2017 and I had NEVER completed that idea. It was finally time. Andréanne was my first dancer in November of 2017 and it snowed the night before so we got creative and stayed inside for her shoot. I'm so excited to be finally bringing this project to life after all these years and to have found the most wonderful dance community that has welcomed me with open arms.
Dancer: Andréanne
Location: World Trade Centre Montreal and surrounding area
Want to schedule a shoot? Contact me here.
As a lindy hop dancer I have known about Montreal's Swing Riot for a few years. I had always hoped to make it one year as it brought something new to the swing world that I had not seen before, the yearly infamous Street Dancers vs Vintage Dancers Invitational Battle. Professional lindy hop dancers can perform to a crowd and throw tricks just as much as the next professional dancer. Often thought of first as a social dance that your grandparents did (which it is), the showmanship side of it is equally as fun. And when lindy hoppers compete, watch out, people will be flying in the air. So at Swing Riot, two teams of vintage and modern street dancers were invited to battle against each other. Since it was invitational you knew the dancers were going to be great and the battle was going to have you screaming. This year's battle didn't disappoint. Both vintage and street dancers were amazing. In the end, the crowd crowned the street dancers as this year's winners.
Now for the technical side of this post. At the time, I had just recently upgraded my Fuji X-T1 for a Fuji X-T2. Because I wasn't the primary photographer for Swing Riot, I chose not to use my normal swing event OCF set up. I typically set up two flashes, but I wanted to test this camera and it's autofocus and low light capabilities. Seriously, photographing dancers (especially lindy hoppers) in low light with no flash is a huge camera test. Finally switching from my Canon 6D that I had been holding on to for solely this exact situation, to the Fuji was a tiny bit tricky. There's definitely a learning curve to the Fuji coming from a DSLR. I have been shooting Fuji primarily (except dance and a few weddings last year) for a few years now. I have loved my Fujis and always gush about them. But this was a new test. A hard test for a camera system that has been known to not have the fastest AF. After a few tests of different focus settings I finally started to feel comfortable with it and then by the end of the night I was convinced. This Fuji X-T2 could hold up to the Canon 6D. I had learned how to adjust my shooting and was catching the moments I needed to catch. So, since then, I have sold my Canon 6D. I finally felt like the Fuji could do anything the DSLR could do. It was a great feeling.
